Is my photo uploaded when it looks for faces?

No. The detector — about 1.2 MB — downloads once and runs in your browser. The photo never leaves your device. We chose it over a well-known alternative specifically because that one reports usage back to its maker.

Will it find every face?

No automatic detector does. Small, turned-away, covered, shadowed, or low-resolution faces are the ones it misses most. Always check, and drag a box over anything it skipped.

Can a blurred face be un-blurred?

Light blur and light pixelation have been partly reversed in research settings. At medium or strong strength the original pixels are no longer in the saved file, so there is nothing to recover. Use those for anything that matters.

Can I blur something other than a face?

Yes — drag a box over any area of the original. Name badges, licence plates, screens, and documents all work the same way.

Is it legal to post photos of other people?

It depends on where you are, where the photo was taken, and what you're using it for — and this guide isn't legal advice. Blurring faces is a widely used way to respect people's privacy regardless; if you're publishing for an organisation, follow its policy.

How to Blur Faces in a Photo Before Sharing It

Updated September 2, 2026

The photo is good and you want to post it. It also has your kid's classmates in it, or colleagues who didn't sign up to be on your feed, or a stranger who happened to be in frame. Blurring their faces lets you share the moment without publishing their identities. Here is how to do it properly — including the part where you check the tool's work.

Why people blur faces

Children — your own, so the photo can't be searched by face; other people's, because their parents didn't consent.
Colleagues and event guests — a team photo or conference shot posted publicly puts people online who may not want to be.
Bystanders — anyone in the background of a street, travel, or protest photo.
Screenshots — a group video call, a social feed, or a news article in the background can carry a dozen recognisable faces you didn't mean to publish.
Documents and IDs — a photo of a badge, a licence, or a form with a portrait on it.

The steps

Open Privacy Blur and drop the photo in. It never uploads — a small detector runs in your browser.
Press Find faces. Each detected face gets a box; the count is shown.
Check every face yourself. Drag on the original to add a box over anything the detector missed. Click a box's label to remove one it shouldn't have made.
Choose blur or pixelate and a strength — medium or strong for real privacy — then download the PNG.

What automatic detection misses

Think of the detector as a fast first pass, not a census. It was trained on faces that look more or less at the camera at a reasonable size, so that is what it finds. The pattern of misses is predictable: a face the size of a fingernail in a crowd shot; someone in profile or looking at their phone; a face behind a hand, a fringe, a mask, or big sunglasses; a face in deep shadow; and anything in a photo that is itself small or soft. Now and then it will also draw a box on something that only resembles a face — a pattern on a shirt, a poster in the background.

This is why the manual boxes exist and why the step above says *check every face yourself*. The tool reports what it found; you are the one who knows who is in the picture. Treat the count as a starting point, not a verdict.

Blur or pixelate, and how strong

Both hide a face. Blur reads as softer and less conspicuous; pixelate signals clearly that something was hidden, which some people prefer for transparency. Either way, use medium or strong when the goal is that nobody can identify the person. Light settings leave a face recognisable to anyone who already knows them, and research has shown that light blur and light pixelation can sometimes be partly reversed. At medium and strong the original pixels are gone from the saved file.

What blurring a face doesn't do

It hides the face, not the person. Clothing, a distinctive bag, a tattoo, the location, and who else is in the photo can all identify someone to people who know them. For a photo where that really matters, blurring is one step, and "don't post it" is the other option. This guide isn't legal advice, and the rules on photographing and publishing images of people vary by country and context — if you're publishing for an organisation, check its policy.

For hiding things that aren't faces — a licence plate, a screen, a document — drag a box over them; the tool blurs whatever you mark. And for softening a whole background rather than specific faces, Background Blur does that with the subject kept sharp.

Common questions

Is my photo uploaded when it looks for faces?: No. The detector — about 1.2 MB — downloads once and runs in your browser. The photo never leaves your device. We chose it over a well-known alternative specifically because that one reports usage back to its maker.
Will it find every face?: No automatic detector does. Small, turned-away, covered, shadowed, or low-resolution faces are the ones it misses most. Always check, and drag a box over anything it skipped.
Can a blurred face be un-blurred?: Light blur and light pixelation have been partly reversed in research settings. At medium or strong strength the original pixels are no longer in the saved file, so there is nothing to recover. Use those for anything that matters.
Can I blur something other than a face?: Yes — drag a box over any area of the original. Name badges, licence plates, screens, and documents all work the same way.
Is it legal to post photos of other people?: It depends on where you are, where the photo was taken, and what you're using it for — and this guide isn't legal advice. Blurring faces is a widely used way to respect people's privacy regardless; if you're publishing for an organisation, follow its policy.

Try it yourself

These live under AI tools, alongside the rest of the photo editing with on-device ai guides on the guides page.